The Greatest Minor League Baseball Blog of All Time

Results tagged ‘ beards ’

As I have often mentioned, the offseason content on this blog can be characterized as an ongoing battle between the old and the new. The urge to share new Minor League initiatives and ideas must do constant battle with the desire to give belated coverage to that which I didn’t get around to writing about during the season itself.

But why must this dynamic always be framed in oppositional terms? Today’s post represents an attempt at reconciliation, so that the old and the new may transcend temporal concerns in favor of taking up residence within the eternal now. It’s a perfectly logical approach.

The Rocko’s Love Bites Pack is $55 and perfect for the downtrodden on what can be a quite depressing holiday. This lonely hearts package includes four SINGLE game General Admission Baysox tickets to enjoy by yourself, a Baysox Foam Claw signifying your ripped out heart, a Black Baysox Mini-Bat to fend off any nearby happy couples, six black balloons to denote your singular unromantic status, and a pint of ice cream with a special Baysox bowl to help alleviate your sorrows.

But that’s not all, for Rocko will also help those in unhappy relationships hit the killswitch.

Fans can have the frustrated fish do the dirty work for them and deliver his Love Bites Pack within 25 miles of the stadium to help you part ways with a significant other.

If anyone takes Rocko up on this offer, then I have but one request: Make sure you get it on video.

Well, I have obtained photos of the festivities (by “obtained” I mean the team sent me some). Here, a pair of front office staffers engage in a beard-tasting competition.

“Beard vs. Food” eating contest:

To the victor go the spoils:

Longest beard competition:

Strongest beard competition:

Once again, to the victor go the spoils (maybe this guy won because his opponent, upon further review, was deemed to not have had a beard in the first place):

—

This old and new coexistence experiment seems to have gone pretty well. I think I’ll do it again in the near future. In the meantime, make sure to check out the new edition of “Ben’s Bookshelf” over on MiLB.com. It features three highly-recommended Minor League Baseball-themed books:

The promotion was exactly what its name implied: a celebration of beards. Between-inning games and contests were devoted to this most dignified form of facial hair, and all bearded individuals received discounted admission to the ballpark.

I’ll start things off with a 2010 Photo of the Year contender. I like this picture so much because 1) these guys are no johnny-come-latelies to the beard scene and 2) their innate good-naturedness is so immediately apparent:

The Baysox do not discriminate, and made it clear to their fans that discounted admission would be available to those with beards both real and fake. Clearly, some took advantage of this loophole:

This between-inning game involved contestants attempting to shave a balloon. I’m truly grateful that I have a job that allows me to regularly write sentences such as the previous:

I have no idea what’s going on in the next two photos, but this aura of mystery enhances the visual:

The Baysox aren’t the only team to have recently staged a follicle-related promotion. The Lake County Captains held “Hairstyle Appreciation Night”, which team director of promotions Jonathan Levey described thusly:

Hairstyle
Appreciation Night paid homage to all facets of hair. Barbers were on hand to
cut hair during the game with all tips received contributed to Locks for Love.
The Captains player with the best hairstyle head shot (Casey Frawley) on the
video board had $50 donated to Locks For Love in his name. The Captains hosted
several contests including: Best Hairstyle, Craziest Hairstyle, Best Wig and a
Wig Relay Race. There was also color hair spraying for the kids and many
different movie and photo clips to honor hair throughout the evening.

As much as I love writing about hair-related promotions within the world of Minor League Baseball, allow me to briefly point out that my latest “Farm’s Almanac” feature is a good one. It’s on umpiring in the Minors, and I hope you find it engaging and informative.

Okay, with that plug out of the way, let me return to the Baysox. The following video has nothing to do with hair, however. Rather, it is an amusing look at prospects Zach Britton and Caleb Joseph as they spend an evening at Camden Yards with something less than all-access:

That’s going to do it for me, for this week. In closing, I’ll leave you with yet another “at-bat walk-up” song selection. THIS.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.